As to a battery cell used for electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles, for example, a power generation element is sealed with a liquid electrolyte in an exterior body made of a laminated film, and the battery cell has a thin flat shape in the thickness direction of the battery cell. A positive terminal and a negative terminal are led out from a part of the peripheral edge portion of the exterior body. When this type of the battery cell is manufactured, a step for pressurizing the battery cell in a predetermined thickness direction is performed so that the liquid electrolyte is excellently permeated while discharging a gas inside the exterior body.
In addition, as a technique similar to such pressurization work of the battery cell, in Japanese Patent Application Publication H2-146520, there has been disclosed a technique for pressurizing a cell used for liquid crystal panels.
In the pressurization of battery cells, there has been known a technique in which the battery cells and spacers with a certain width are alternately arranged in the thickness direction in a pressurization device (pressurization magazine) and the whole of a plurality of these battery cells and spacers is pressurized in the thickness direction from both side of the whole of them, and thereby the plurality of the cells are simultaneously pressurized.
Here, in a case where charging is performed in a state in which the battery cells have been inserted into the pressurization device and have been fixed and pressurized, by respectively connecting the terminals of each of the battery cells to the chuck portions of a charging and discharging device, the charging is performed. Accordingly, the intervals between the plurality of the cells needs to be the same as that of the chuck portions.
On the other hand, in the battery cell for electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles, since the capacity of the battery cell differs depending on a car model on which the battery cell is mounted, the thickness of the battery cell is not one type. Here, as mentioned above, in the related art pressurization device which pressurizes the whole of the plurality of the battery cells and spacers, which are arranged alternately, from both of the side of the whole of them, since the interval between the adjacent battery cells differs depending on the thickness of the battery cells, the dimension of the whole of them in a pressurized state is changed. Consequently, the positions of the terminals of the battery cells with respect to the positions of the chuck portions of the charging and discharging device are shifted, and charging and discharging cannot be performed. Therefore, there are problems that it is necessary to prepare a different pressurization device in each type of battery cells having different thickness and, by this, an area for sorting excess magazines becomes necessary, and consequently, a manufacturing cost and the necessary area of a factory are increased and productivity is decreased.